A sintered R—Fe—B based rare-earth magnet, including an Nd2Fe14B type compound phase as a main phase, is known as a permanent magnet with the highest performance, and has been used in various types of motors such as a voice coil motor (VCM) for a hard disk drive and a motor for a hybrid car and in numerous types of consumer electronic appliances. When used in motors and various other devices, the sintered R—Fe—B based rare-earth magnet should exhibit thermal resistance and coercivity that are high enough to withstand an operating environment at an elevated temperature.
As a means for increasing the coercivity of a sintered R—Fe—B based rare-earth magnet, a molten alloy, including a heavy rare-earth element RH as an additional element, may be used. According to this method, the light rare-earth element RL, which is included in an R2Fe14B phase, is replaced with a heavy rare-earth element RH, and therefore, the magnetocrystalline anisotropy (which is a decisive quality parameter that determines the coercivity) of the R2Fe14B phase improves. However, the remanence Br would decrease in proportion to the percentage of the light rare-earth element RL replaced with the heavy rare-earth element RH.
Meanwhile, as the heavy rare-earth element RH is one of rare natural resources, its use is preferably cut down as much as possible. For these reasons, the method in which a portion of the light rare-earth element RL is simply replaced with the heavy rare-earth element RH is not preferred.
To get the coercivity increased effectively with the addition of a relatively small amount of the heavy rare-earth element RH, it was proposed that an alloy or compound powder, including a lot of the heavy rare-earth element RH, be added to a main phase material alloy powder including a lot of the light rare-earth element RL and then the mixture be compacted and sintered. According to this method, the heavy rare-earth element RH is distributed a lot in the vicinity of the grain boundary of the R2Fe14B phase, and therefore, the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the R2Fe14B phase can be improved efficiently in the outer periphery of the main phase. The sintered R—Fe—B based rare-earth magnet has a nucleation-type coercivity generating mechanism. That is why if a lot of the heavy rare-earth element RH is distributed in the outer periphery of the main phase (i.e., near the grain boundary thereof), the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of all crystal grains is improved, the nucleation of reverse magnetic domains can be interfered with, and the coercivity increases as a result. At the core of the crystal grains, no light rare-earth element RL is replaced with the heavy rare-earth element RH. Consequently, the decrease in remanence Br can be minimized there, too.
If this method were actually adopted, however, the heavy rare-earth element RH could not always have such a high concentration around the outer periphery of the main phase. For that reason, it is not easy to obtain the expected crystal structure.
As another method for increasing the coercivity of a sintered R—Fe—B based rare-earth magnet, a metal, an alloy or a compound including a heavy rare-earth element RH is deposited on the surface of the sintered magnet and then thermally treated and diffused. Then, the coercivity could be recovered or increased without decreasing the remanence so much (see Patent Documents Nos. 1, 2 and 3).
Patent Document No. 1 teaches forming a thin-film alloy layer, 1.0 at % to 50.0 at % of which is accounted for by at least one of Ti, W, Pt, Au, Cr, Ni, Cu, Co, Al, Ta and Ag and the balance of which is R′ that is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ce, La, Nd, Pr, Dy, Ho, and Tb, on the surface of a sintered magnet body to be machined.
Patent Document No. 2 discloses that a metallic element R (which is one or two rare-earth elements selected from the group consisting of Y, Nd, Dy, Pr, Ho, and Tb) is diffused to a depth that is at least equal to the radius of crystal grains exposed on the uppermost surface of a small-sized magnet, thereby repairing the damage done on the machined surface and increasing (BH)max.
Patent Document No. 3 discloses that by depositing a CVD film, consisting mostly of a rare-earth element, on the surface of a magnet with a thickness of 2 mm or less, the magnetic properties could be recovered.
Patent Document No. 4 discloses a method of sorbing a rare-earth element to recover or increase the coercivity of a very small sintered R—Fe—B based magnet or its powder. According to the method of Patent Document No. 4, a sorption metal, which is a rare-earth metal such as Yb, Eu or Sm with a relatively low boiling point and a very small sintered R—Fe—B based magnet or its powder are mixed together, and then the mixture is subjected to a heat treatment to heat it uniformly in a vacuum while stirring it up. As a result of this heat treatment, the rare-earth metal is not only deposited on the surface of the magnet but also diffused inward. Patent Document No. 4 also discloses an embodiment in which a rare-earth metal with a high boiling point such as Dy is sorbed. In such an embodiment that uses Dy, for example, Dy is selectively heated to a high temperature by induction heating. According to Patent Document No. 4, Dy could not be heated sufficiently by normal resistance heating process. Patent Document No. 4 also states that the temperature of the very small sintered R—Fe—B based magnet and its powder is preferably kept within the range of 700° C. to 850° C.
Patent Document No. 5 discloses an evaporation diffusion process, which is a technique for supplying Dy that has sublimed from a plate of Dy (which is called a “Dy bulk body”) to a sintered magnet body that faces the Dy bulk body while at the same time diffusing Dy inside of the magnet body through the grain boundary of the sintered magnet body.